


Starlight through Smoke

by oraclerose



Category: Gintama
Genre: M/M, Smoking, This might be post canon I'm honestly not sure, Timeline What Timeline, joui4week, sakataka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 17:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12658422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oraclerose/pseuds/oraclerose
Summary: Crew meddling notwithstanding, they have made a habit of this, of seeing each other. The Kaientai keeps a channel open for only the Kiheitai to use, and use it they do. Before either of them realize what that implies, personally or politically, they’re too involved to care.- A fic for Joui 4 week, 2017





	Starlight through Smoke

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2: Sakamoto & Takasugi  
> Prompts: Not used

They’re starting to loose count of how many times they’ve met up out in space, on Earth, on other planets. This is actually a lie, they both mark each occasion meticulously, and when Shinsuke gets snappish and Tatsuma’s smiles start dropping away faster, they often find themselves reunited. Mutsu and Bansai would never admit to such plannings. If asked, they’re only working in the best interests of their crews and their commanders.

Crew meddling notwithstanding, they have made a habit of this, of seeing each other. The Kaientai keeps a channel open for only the Kiheitai to use, and use it they do. Before either of them realize what that implies, personally or politically, they’re too involved to care. Neither fleet goes long without hailing the other. If transmissions were visible then there would be a web of them.

“Y’know, you could at least warn us when you’ve got special ops tailing you.” Sakamoto comments over the remains of their dinner. Last time they ate on ship, so they’ve opted for one of the nicer safe houses the Kiheitai still maintains in Edo. The air is cool but the distant sounds of the night life drift in through the porch and mingle with the remains of the day's earlier heat.

Takasugi just smiles. “I didn’t see you complaining when they chased off the amanto that were after you lot. Deal go bad?”

Sakamoto scoffs. “As if! They just didn’t realize we were bringing our trade back to Earth. A simple miscommunication.”

That only earns him a raised eyebrow. “Then why did that lieutenant of yours say something about you being sick on at least two important officials?”

“Miscommunication!” He says again. The fact that their crews were becoming as tangled together as their captains is not easily forgotten by either of them, but sometimes the extent of it surprises Sakamoto. But Takasugi enjoys using the mixed information to tease him. And he knows this is true the moment he spots the smirk behind his friend's sake cup.

“That’s empty, you know. Want any more?”

Two can play at teasing. Takasugi’s eye darts down, and the smile drops away in surprise. He nearly shoves the glass back onto the tray and glares at Tatsuma as the bowls rattle. “I’ve had enough.” But then the corner of his mouth curves back up, and before either of them know it they’re laughing.

Even as they are now, Sakamoto wishes Takasugi would laugh more. He’s never known him to be particularly cheerful, but even during the war the smiles they’d drag out of each other were more frequent. And he has a wonderful smile. Tatsuma supposes being able to get him to smile when he can is good enough.

He notices that Takasugi’s stopped laughing and is watching him, a half smile on his face and his hand paused with his kiseru between his fingers. “Something wrong?”

Takasugi actually starts, annoyance crossing his face as he looks down and busies himself with lighting the tobacco and quickly exhaling the first mouthful of smoke. He’s not about to admit that Tatsuma is impossible to stop looking at when he’s laughing for his own sake, and not to diffuse a situation, or that he can tell the difference these days either. Damn man. Damn eye catching man.

He leans up against the door and glances out towards the courtyard in a bid to find a more composed line of thought, watching the lit up roofs and second floors of the town beyond the walls. The garden had been non-existent when they bought the place. Distantly Takasugi wonders who put in all the bushes and flowers. 

Composure back in place, he’s about to turn back to Sakamoto, but before he can say a word his pipe is plucked from his hand and the damn merchant is grinning at him around the mouth piece. With a surprised cough he breaths out a cloud of smoke. “I didn’t think you were still buying stuff this expensive. No wonder you’ve always got it around.”

Takasugi looks frozen, and he watches shock and then irritation make its way across his friends face. Tatsuma has done this once before, on ship, and while he had been smug then it was nothing compared to how he felt now. Catching Takasugi off guard once is enough to give anyone a rush, so twice in the same way makes him feel as if there was something a bit extra in the tobacco.

He expects the fun to end there, he really does. He’s not trying to goad Takasugi into anything so he turns the pipe around in his hand and leans forward to offer it back. It’s taken away and placed beside them on the closest tray.

The next moment however is confusing as Takasugi shifts back and instead of moving away, he stops, meeting Tatsuma’s eyes. “You owe me twice for that now, you know.”

“Owe you? What, for a few drags?”

“Do you remember how much that tobacco costs?”

He does. “Ah, well-” It’s outrageous stuff, local of course but meticulously produced and likely only sold to the highest of Yoshiwara and the government, and apparently also, well paying terrorists.

Takasugi smirks at him. “Thinking of how to pay me back?”

Sakamoto has either gone insane or Takasugi really did just lean in to watch him panic. He’s not sure which is the better option. Because having Shinsuke watch him with that amused expression on his face is extremely distracting. At least if he was going mad he could say that it was just his imagination that was making him focus on exactly how close together they currently were.

“I gave you that kiseru, didn’t I? That wasn’t cheap either y’know.”

“I thought that was payback for the gun?”

“And here I thought you had no idea who sent that.” It had been obvious of course, Sakamoto would know Takasugi’s sentiment anywhere, but he had only asked once.

To be fair, Takasugi pushes his slip up aside easily. Part of him cursing for admitting to the gift, the rest of him not caring in favor of their present conversation. “So are you going to pay me back, or not?” If he hasn’t given away how much he enjoys this, he’s certainly not going to advertise it further. But he can practically see Sakamoto divvying up his recent trade run for an excuse to splurge on them both. “Oi, Tatsuma, you still on Earth?”

The merchant blinks and spares a glance out to the garden and to the sky. He’d pushed his shades up when the sun went down and it’s a bit weird knowing Takasugi can see wherever he looks. He hopes his eyes haven’t wandered too much. “Ahah, am I ever? Seriously, can’t I just treat you extra next time?”

“If you don’t mind paying interest, sure.”

At that he laughs even harder. “Interest as if-” But figures and prices are forgotten as he’s suddenly kissed, as Takasugi catches his hands in his scarf to pull him closer, and then as Tatsuma breaks them apart so he can remember how to breath. They’re both red in the face, and even though he started it, Takasugi looks surprised. More surprised that he hasn’t been shoved away, or at how good it had felt, he isn’t completely sure.

He’s grinning like a fool and Takasugi has never seen someone smile so wonderfully. “And how much was that worth?”

“Take a guess, merchant.” Tatsuma guesses the answer would be: not nearly enough. This time he pulls Takasugi into the room properly as he’s kissed again, chuckling as his coat is shoved off his shoulders and his scarf unwound so his neck is available. Tatsuma pushes the haori off of Shinsuke and feels the fabric pool around their legs. He moves a bit to shrug his coat off his arms, but he forgets himself and leans his weight onto his arms to keep his balance, and his wrists twist when his hands hit the tatami.

The pain flares up the scar and into the rest of his arm before Tatsuma can brace himself. His hand goes numb and the he snaps upright with a hiss. Takasugi stops, leans back, and waits for him to steady himself, watching him carefully stretch his hand to get the feeling back. “It’s still that bad?”

“I have all the strength back, but any fine movement’s gone, not that I can really hold much except a gun or a pen.” It’s not Takasugi’s fault, but the bitterness in his voice is still there. Of all people, he really doesn't want to see the pity from him.

But instead, Shinsuke just reaches out and takes his hand in his own and has him unfold his arm between them. He pulls the coat sleeve off his hand and pushes up Tatsuma’s shirt sleeve to show the pale and jagged scar. And ever so gently his fingers press into his skin, working up from the palm of his hand, around the muscle of the scar, and knead into the top of his forearm. It’s a quick massage but it relieves so much pain Tatsuma feels ready to melt.

“Where’d ya pick this trick up?”

“You don’t get stabbed a few times without figuring out some pain relief. Especially when we can’t afford to waste medicine in the Kiheitai, it comes more expensive than any tobacco now.” Shinsuke replies. “Work out the muscle around any scar and it helps.”

Tatsuma hums in agreement. It’s a hypnotizing feeling, so a break in the rhythm brings him back to attention. Shinsuke finishes back at his wrist, where the pain is usually the worst, and then draws his hand up and-

He’s gotten used to ignoring the damn scar, of making sure people see and hear him first so they don’t glance at the injury, at the thing that makes him not quite a samurai anymore. Shinsuke had briefly looked at the blood and told him what it meant, but after that his eyes never looked back at it. He’s gotten spoiled, with people politely forgetting about it, and to have it thrown back in his face so suddenly has burned more than he wants to admit. It’s not something he’ll ever feel good about, but feeling worse he tries to avoid.

So someone pressing a kiss to his wrist, he almost can’t believe what he’s seeing. Or feeling.

Shinsuke, as if realizing what he’s doing, pulls away quickly and looks mortified. “You can ignore that. It’s just...you know.” Even so his eye flicks down to make sure Tatsuma doesn't flinch as he picks up his coat again and places it to the side. 

Tatsuma should have been with them the whole time, he should have had a sword until the end of the war, he shouldn’t be in pain ever because he never deserved this. But he’s taken the cruel reality he got dragged into and made it his and made it good, something Shinsuke never considered possible. He’s better than one injury and seeing how much Tatsuma clearly still expects people to see him as broken makes him want to shake the man until he knows better.

But forcing it is likely to shatter them, and this is too rare to ever risk destroying, so Takasugi sighs. “Forget it.”

He doesn't expect Tatsuma to suddenly stand and step around him, and then drag them both over to the courtyard porch. Outside, the lights around the town are bright orange and yellow and it covers everything with a faint warm tint that gives over to the crisp and cooler starlight. Longer arms reach back and grab the disregarded pipe and pass it over, the small ball of tobacco still smoldering. “Too late, we already paid, and there’s no refunds.” Sakamoto says, and he smiles.

Takasugi accepts the pipe and takes a breath, and on the exhale Sakamoto presses a hand to his face and tilts them together. Their next kiss tastes of smoke, but it isn’t blurred, instead they find it is sharp and bright like the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a gift but I had inspiration from a friend and I really wanted to put something decent out for the event.
> 
> Of course my first contribution to the fandom is ship stuff, I should have known.
> 
> Check out @joui4week on twitter for all the great work people are doing, and the wonderful people who put it together! They're also on tumblr, same page name. I'm usually @witchoftimes if you'd like to hear me yell about writing and my cats at 1am.


End file.
